Contact: Jake Fish
Phone: (850) 474-2140
Email: tfish@uwf.edu
November 5, 2005

Padilla Qualifies for NCAA Nationals; Argos Finish Fourth

Dade City, Fla. - West Florida runner Michael Padilla qualified for the NCAA Division II National Meet this mornng at the South Regional Championships. As a team, UWF came up just six points (107) shy of qualifying for Nationals.

The Argonauts finished in fourth place out of 19 teams, with the top three teams advancing. Harding won the 10k race with 32 points, followed by Florida Southern (78) and Clayton State (101). Padilla finished seventh overall as the top Argo runner. The top eight individual runners will advance to the National Championships. Padilla finished with a time of 34:14. He qualified for National's last year and finished 57th.

West Florida's Caleb Carmichael finished at 34:58 (10th), and Sam Ishee clocked out at 36:10 (25th). Harding's James Cheruiyot won the race at 32:44. Harding finished the top four individual times.

The South Regional Championships were held at the Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City, Fla., hosted by Florida Southern and Saint Leo. The National Meet will take place on Nov. 19 in Pomona, Calif.

UWF Results:

7th - Michael Padilla - 34:14
10th - Caleb Carmichael - 34:58
25th - Sam Ishee - 36:10
32nd - Brian Gowin - 36:39
33rd - Danny Bauer - 36:42
42nd - Brian Miller - 37:15
70th - Craig Henry - 38:44